Bill advances in TN that could remove Ballad Health COPA

A bill that would remove much of the regulation governing Ballad Health’s inpatient hospital monopoly starting in 2028 cleared its first legislative hurdle Wednesday. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee unanimously approved a bill that eliminates the “Certificate of Public Advantage,” or COPA, starting July 1, 2028. The original COPA paved the way for competing hospital systems Mountain States and Wellmont to merge and form Ballad in 2018 despite that merger creating an inpatient monopoly that, without the COPA, would have been challenged in court by the Federal Trade Commission. The bill leaves in place any pricing restrictions active in 2028 between Ballad and insurance companies, which are overseen by Tennessee’s attorney general. But it frees the system from a slate of requirements contained in more than 100 pages of “Terms of Certification” that govern the COPA. That oversight would end in 2028 if the bill passes as is. Proponents of the legislation say the COPA’s elimination will help pave the way toward providing more health care competition in Northeast Tennessee, where Ballad is the sole provider of inpatient services. To become law, the bill would still need to pass through House committees and be approved by both full chambers of the General Assembly.